According to a service-oriented architecture, a backend service layer provides services (i.e., business functionality) to service consumers, typically via Web protocols. A service consumer, such as a user interface client application, may use this business functionality to provide user interfaces for accessing data from and submitting data to the backend service layer.
A user interface designer defines such online user interfaces based on predefined screen layout patterns. More specifically, user interfaces are defined by adding user interface elements to these screen layout patterns and binding the user interface elements to data fields of services offered by the backend service layer. This binding facilitates the transmission of data to and from the backend service layer. The user interfaces are rendered on the client side by user interface runtime code which executes, for example, within a Web browser.
Therefore, a connection to the backend service layer is required in order to use these user interfaces to submit data to the backend service layer. Systems are desired to facilitate the use of thusly-defined user interfaces while disconnected from a corresponding backend service layer, and to subsequently transmit data input to the user interfaces to the backend service layer.